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Campus Uncommons: Mark Albertson

Learn more about the great people who make Elon a special place.

By Caitlin O'Donnell ’13

When Mark Albertson joined Elon in 1978 as assistant registrar, he parked his car in a lot in front of Alamance, where Fonville Fountain now resides. Students completed registration and paid tuition and fees by hand in Alumni Gym. And the size of the graduating class that year? 307 – about 1,000 fewer students than the Class of 2012.

No matter the changes or challenges Albertson has faced in his 34 years at Elon, he’s always met them with a smile and the needs of the student in mind.

“I’ve had a philosophy of remembering people as individuals, and I’ve always tried to implement policies as if I were the student at the other end of it,” Albertson says.

That’s partly because, during his first decades on campus – before computers and the Internet – he sat face-to-face with those very students.

“Along with keeping up with advances in technology and applying good common sense, (that philosophy) has kept me in reasonably good graces with the administration, our students and the faculty.”

Reasonably is an understatement: When Albertson retires at the end of the calendar year, he’ll leave rather large shoes to fill. But he’s confident Elon will keep humming along just fine.

“I think whatever accomplishments I’ve had, the most critical and most important has been the staff I put together,” he says. “My staff is what makes this office.”